


How long have you been standing there?

by xisuthros



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Love Confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-04-24 03:17:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4903468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xisuthros/pseuds/xisuthros
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joe sits Barry down to get him to confess his feelings about Caitlin. She overhears the conversation and walks in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How long have you been standing there?

“So, you’re in love with Caitlin.” Barry choked on his orange juice as Joe sat down at the head of the table, his eyes steady but twinkling. He sat there calmly as his stepson had a mini freak-out.

“What?” Barry spluttered. “What makes you say that? I’m not in...she’s okay but...I mean you’ve got to-” He cut off when Joe put up a timeout sign. 

“Okay, stop.” He said, picking up a piece of toast. “So you love Caitlin. What are you going to do about it?” Barry sat there, frozen.

Finally he sighed and put his head in his hands. “I don’t know, Joe. I just don’t want to screw up our friendship. You know, Caitlin and Cisco are the two people outside of you and Iris that I really, truly care about. I just don’t want to mess up one of the few things that are going right in my life right now.”

Joe didn’t look convinced. “You start too many sentences with the word “I””, he stated while sipping his orange juice. “What does she think? Have you talked to her?” Barry snorted.

“Are you kidding?” The speedster asked incredulously. “Do you remember how long it took me to tell Iris I liked her? Practically my whole life. I think I might be able to bring up the subject with Caitlin when we’re in our seventies.” He looked glumly at the lone waffle left on his plate.

Joe shook his head disbelievingly. “Barry, you love Caitlin! It’s not something to be ashamed about. Go tell her! What’s the worst that could happen?” 

Barry looked at him. “Oh I don’t know, awkwardness, ruined friendship, personal and second-hand embarrassment. Do you want me to go on?” Joe laughed.

“Well, if it were easy...” He said, spreading his hands. 

Barry nodded, sighing. “I mean, there are times when I think she might feel something. The way she smiles at me, the way she sometimes seems to touch me for longer than she needs to; you know, the small things. I just have a horrible track record for noticing these things, so my judgment might not be reliable.” Joe smiled and put a hand on Barry’s shoulder.

“Look, Barry.” He said, smiling at his stepson’s obliviousness. “I know what I see and trust me, she likes you too.” Barry’s eyes widened as he seemed to consider what he was saying. “But you didn’t hear it from me.” He clarified. “I do not want to be responsible if you socially nuke this.” He pointedly looked at the picture of Iris on the counter. Barry nodded and seemed to be deep in thought. 

Finally, he said, “I need to think about how to tell her. I really don’t want to screw this up.” Joe nodded.

“Just don’t take too long.” He warned. “Because sooner or later, some other guy is going to see what a great girl she is and you’ll be out of luck. I just don’t want to see you get heartbroken again.” Barry half-smiled.

“Yeah, that was pretty bad.” He admitted.

A voice came from the hallway, causing Barry to jump. “Yeah, it really was. Cisco and I had bets on how many times you’d look sadly into the distance everyday.” 

Caitlin came walking slowly out from the hallway, carrying a box of donuts. Her face was unreadable, but Joe could see a flicker of warmth in her gaze when she saw Barry, who was frozen with a slightly mortified expression.

“Hi, Caitlin.” The speedster said carefully, glancing pointedly back at Joe who just sat there with a small smile on his face. “What brings you by?” She placed the donuts on the table.

“Joe invited me. He wanted me to look over some of the newer case files from some of the meta-humans that have been popping up recently.” Barry glared at Joe, who had trouble keeping himself chuckling. 

“Caitlin.” He started again, his fingers tapping nervously on the table. “How much of that did you hear?” She paused from putting her bag down, then turned back to him.

“Pretty much since you admitted you were in love with me.” Caitlin said simply, causing Barry to put his head in his hands. Joe felt like he was watching the best sitcom ever. 

“Look, Caitlin.” Barry started, trying to do damage control. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for you to find out until I had a chance to tell you the right way.” She looked at him and her expression softened. “I just really didn’t want to mess up our friendship; it means a lot to me.”

Everything became quiet as she seemed to digest his words. Joe mentally crossed his fingers. This whole thing came down to what she said next. He almost felt bad for setting the two of them up, but they needed a kick in the right direction. Barry sure as hell wasn’t going to do anything soon.

Finally she spoke up, her voice soft. “You haven’t messed up anything, Barry.” The speedster looked at her blankly, as if not quite believing what she was saying. “In fact,” she continued. “I think Joe just saved us a few months of dancing around each other.” She smiled at the cop, who couldn’t help but grin. Barry looked like Christmas had come early. 

“So,” he started. “Does this mean you’d like to go out with me sometime?” Joe noticed Caitlin start to blush slightly. “I mean, its okay if you don’t. This is all still a little-“   
She cut him off by placing a hand on his shoulder and looking at him fondly. 

“I’d love to.” She said softly, her eyes shining. 

Joe took her tone as his cue to leave. He quietly stood up and snuck out of the room as the two of them continued to look at each other with expressions that made even his ears burn. He chuckled to himself as he got his things together for work; it was about time that the two of them got their heads screwed on straight. They both deserved a win after the tough year they’d had and if it meant playing matchmaker, Joe would gladly do his part if it meant they could be happy.

As small laughs drifted down the hall, Joe couldn’t help but smile again. He might have to do this professionally.


End file.
